In a Letter to the Editor published yesterday, an aide to...

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

January 03, 1994

In a Letter to the Editor published yesterday, an aide to Mayor Kurt L. Schmoke was misidentified. His correct name is Wendell Sutton.

Th Sun regrets the errors.

Finger of Blame

Two recent editorials in The Sun (Dec. 18 and Dec. 20) criticized City Council President Mary Pat Clarke for failure to inform Mayor Kurt Schmoke or City Solicitor Neal Janney about the Jackie McLean lease irregularity.

Rather than heaping blame on Mrs. Clarke, I think she should be praised as the sole member of the Board of Estimates to exercise the initiative to discover the impropriety.

FOR THE RECORD - CORRECTION

Without Mary Pat Clarke's detective work, the city would still be slumbering while the $106,000 annual rental was unjustifiably paid.

Did she believe that she had fulfilled her responsibility by immediately notifying the mayor's aide, William Sutton, of the impropriety and by notifying the other board members of her vote reversal?

I think she had every reason to conclude that the mayor was properly alerted. The finger of blame should point elsewhere.

Joseph Sachs

Baltimore

Landmark Bill

At a news conference, held immediately prior to the Dec. 6 City Council meeting, legislation was introduced by Councilman Wilbur "Bill" Cunningham, Council President Mary Pat Clarke and council members Rochelle "Rikki" Spector and Anthony Ambridge, assuring protection for city parks.

The bill would require the city to notify the public as soon as any proposal is made to sell, to transfer or change the use of any city-owned parkland. This is landmark legislation. An impressive turnout at the press conference included members of the concerned public, environmentalists and conservationists.

I am puzzled why The Sun chose not to report these happenings. This important legislation will enable all of us to feel more confident of the continued preservation of public parklands that we all enjoy.

Elaine Miller

Baltimore

Feeling Insulted

Mayor Kurt Schmoke's nominee for a new chief of police is an insult to the collective intelligence of the citizens of Baltimore City.

According to published background information on Thomas Frazier, he does not have the experience to immediately handle complex urban problems which have been escalating rapidly.

He comes to us from a California setting which is experiencing relative calm compared to our problems here in Baltimore. The new police chief has to do far too much acclimation to be effective.

During the selection process, Mayor Schmoke publicly stated that race was not an issue. The statement lead many of us to believe that he was determined to choose a candidate with excellent education and experience qualifications.

I am disappointed that he has chosen a candidate void of the necessary experience to be effective with our complex urban problems.

Mr. Frazier, during his first appearance before Baltimore citizens, insulted our intelligence.

I fail to discern why it will take the new chief five to eight years to fully implement a community policing program. Why can't he save time and money and enhance our current community police program?

It certainly appears that we are being conditioned to give the new chief an extended learning process.

Baltimore cannot afford, in time allowances or money, to allow a chief of police who is not experienced in managing a department over twice the size of whence he came and who is not urban-oriented.

Cassandra H. Marshall

Baltimore

Sexual Power

Jack Kammer urges the reader to "frankly acknowledge and discuss sexual power," (Opinion * Commentary, Dec. 21). I'd like take him up on this challenge.

Mr. Kammer argues that woman's power is in her sexuality and man's power is economic. His logic breaks down when you take a deep look.

If women are so powerful in their sexuality, why is it that men can so easily take that power away from them through sexual abuse, rape and sexual harassment? Yet, how often are women as successful at taking men's economic power from them as easily?

Women should have the right to say no to sex with a man for any reason. Mr. Kammer's words were to "cut him off," indicating that he feels a man is entitled to a woman's body, despite her own feelings, mood, etc.

This speaks clearly to power, the power of a man to demand access to a woman's most intimate parts of herself, both physically and emotionally. A woman therefore is seen only as her sexuality.

This brings us to the issue of pornography, the ultimate objectification of women as body parts and sexuality, rather than as whole people.

The best weapon of oppression is to deny those being oppressed their own humanity. Pornography denies women their personhood and presents them only as body parts and sexuality.

This certainly sounds like power to me.

Amy Donohue

Fallston

Legal Drugs

Until the arbitrary and irrational division between "alcohol" and "other drugs" is removed, all the frantic knee-jerk discussion on this problem will remain worthless political rhetoric.